Essays & General Comments 08-05-15 A BEACH OF A BENCH (May 15, 2008)
I have had my new desk space for about 3 months now (SEE-BLOG-THE NEW OFFICE), and a certain work pattern is developing in my office: I think of my bench as a beach.
Just picture yourself sitting on a beach. At the water's edge the waves roll in . . . . and then they roll out. Just compare this to my latest office scenario.
I start a calligraphy layout and get that underway and rolling; then I do a bit of shopping; get some new papers / samples - so start a few cards going along side my writing slope; then I catch sight of a new album style and I hunker down at the end of the bench on my cutting board and work with that; an email arrives that needs something done and I dig out that stuff and pile it on top of my half done calligraphy; a photo will need doing for the scrapbook sketch and I plan that on my high chair seat; a magazine or other papers will arrive and there is something I need to take note of, so that piles on top of my almost done cards and my 'to do' list floats gracefully off the shelf edge and rests on top of the cutting mat.
Are you getting the picture? Before I can turn around the 'waves' of work / lists / projects / info / STUFF is rolling in like waves filling my work space, taking over, drowning my clear space and swamping me.
Then I have a 'bliss' day / afternoon / couple of hours / to myself and I am riding the tide like a surfer. I sort out the mail; get the parcels in the post / packed ready to deliver; cross off my 'done' stuff; scribe the greetings onto the cards and finish; attach all the bits on the scrapbook layout - photo - and store it; set together the new album and file the templates; finish off my poem - mount - and bag it. And gradually as the tide recedes, the waves of work 'roll' away, and the underneath polished wood starts to gleam through.
The more the tide rolls out the more the wood shows through. We get to the stage when I can brush over the window area; then I can clean the cutting mat; the blotting paper is clear, the pens put away and the water pots cleaned and refreshed. Then work is all listed and stored - the desk is empty, tidy, polished, clean: the tide has rolled out.
Then the ideas start and the work comes in - and off we go again, on a roll, with the tides rising again.
Click here to return to the ESSAYS & COMMENTS page |
